How To Travel More In 2017

A new year, a clean sheet and so many countries you want to visit. Since I got back from the Philippines last month I keep planning new trips and I keep making new plans of how to travel as much as I can.

However, the older I get and the more responsibilities grow on me I start to notice how it can be quite hard to keep traveling as much as I used to before. However, I am determined to make it work and to make 2017 another year filled with traveling – whether I’m planning long trips or short trips: I just want to see more of the world!

If you’re reading this you’re probably dealing with the same ‘issues’. You want to travel as much as you can, but your money and time isn’t endless. And that’s OK, but as long as our money and time can handle it we better make the best use of it!

In the recent years I’ve learned a lot of things about budgeting and smart planning when it comes to traveling. And even though everyones life looks a lot different, I definitely think there are a couple of tips that are applicable for everyone. So that is why today I am going to give you a couple of tips to make sure you can make the most of 2017 and travel around as much as you possibly can!

Stay away from high season

While I (obviously) love to travel I tend to stay away from high season. Ugh, I hate traveling in high season. Prices are so extremely high it’s not even fun anymore and it’s so crowded everywhere you can’t even enjoy a place to the fullest.

Traveling in high season means you have to spend more money on one trip which makes it harder to book more trips in the other months of the year – seeing you’ve already spent so much. It’s ridiculous how much money you can save by not traveling in high season.

Also: it’s way easier to get free from work when traveling outside of high season, seeing moms and dads all need to get off from work during these months.

Stop Impulsive Shopping

Oh, the times I buy something impulsively is ridiculous. I always NEED to buy things when I have a discount code and I always get tempted to buy something when I see someone else wearing something cute. I always buy more than I need and I always wear less than I buy. About 50% of the clothes I own are bought impulsively, and after a while, when I remind myself of the things that I bought, I always think about how I didn’t actually need all that stuff.

It’s ridiculous how much you buy impulsively – not even only talking about clothes. How about that 5 dollar coffee, that chocolate bar you quickly grab in the supermarket or the pizza you order when you don’t feel like cooking?

Stopping impulsive shopping will save you sooo much money, and we all know how you can spend your money else: travels!

How to stop impulsive shopping is the hard part, but I guess that being aware of the fact that you are going to buy something impulsive is half the work. Don’t just buy things online but sleep on it at least a night or two. Don’t immediately order something when you don’t feel like cooking and be aware of the fact that promo deals like buy one get two most of the time aren’t even cheaper: shops raise the price of those products that same week so they don’t ‘miss out’ on profit!

Use your weekends

Traveling doesn’t mean you have to travel around the world and take a ten hour flight to Asia or the USA. Traveling also means going on small trips around your own country, or taking a three or four hour flight to a country near you. We always see these beautiful photos of people traveling all around the world at the most exotic places and islands which makes us forget about the places that are so close to us. Best thing? Traveling to places that are nearby means you hardly have to miss any hours at work or school.

You can travel quite far quite fast by train or car. So just take a look at your map and find out which beautiful things and places are close to you. You’ll find there are so many lovely areas around you that you still need to see!

You can also search for flight tickets around the weekends that will take you to a beautiful city or nature area in just a matter of hours. There are enough flights leaving at night or in the morning, so you can fly for example at thursday night (leaving after work) and return on monday morning (before work), which means you only have to get off from work for one day!

Start loving budget airlines

While Ryan Air by far isn’t the most comfortable airline I know it definitely is the most practical option. I book most of my trips in Europe with Ryan Air. Not only because there is a Ryan Air airport about 30 minutes away from my house, but also because their airfares are ridiculously low. Right now for example, they offer flights for 4 euros to France, 10 euros to London and Pisa and for only 20 euros you’ll be in Venice, Barcelona, Portugal or Stockholm. And these are just a couple of examples of the low airfares they offer.

For me budget airlines are the number one reason why I can afford to travel so much. For real: flying to Barcelona is cheaper than taking the train to Amsterdam! I always make sure to check websites of several budget airlines every now and then to see what kind of offers they have at the moment. For example Vueling, Ryan Air, Wizz Air and Transavia are some airlines I regularly check for flight deals!

Ask your boss for more flexibility

I have a pretty flexible job. Something I am really thankful for and something I know I am really lucky to have. Basically I just need to work so many hours a week, and even though I normally have standard workdays, I can also work from out home, and whenever I can’t work on a monday I can work on friday or work more hours the week after. This never is a problem as long as I make sure I work enough hours and as long as I do what I am supposed to do.

Of course, not every job is as flexible. My boyfriend for example has to work five days a week from nine to five and he can’t work any other hours. But if you have a feeling you might be able to work on flexible hours you can always ask your boss. If you want to travel during the weekend and you can’t make it to work on time that monday, it might be worth asking your boss if you can work those hours another day of the week. This means you don’t have to take time off from work and therefor are able to travel more!

I always assume that a flight is going to be more expensive than taking the train when I travel which really isn’t always the case. Ryanair have some amazing deals I will hopefully be able to take advantage of in 2017 too! x misszarabelle.blogspot.co.uk

Great tip; using the weekends. You’re absolutely right, there is so much to discover. Especially here in Europe where you can be in a whole different country in just hours. I’m saving now for a big trip later in 2016 but this doesn’t mean we can’t go anywhere in the meantime. An extra note-to-self 🙂